The Washington D.C. Court of Appeals ordered Argentina to pay over US$390 million to hedge fund Titan Consortium in the ongoing lawsuit over the expropriation of the country’s flag carrier Aerolíneas Argentinas in 2008.

The Columbia District Court upheld a lower tribunal’s ruling by rejecting an appeal made by the Argentine state demanding Titan Consortium’s lawsuit be dismissed.

The administration led by ex-president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner ordered the expropriation of Aerolíneas Argentinas in 2008, which prompted a lawsuit from stakeholder Marsans.

In late 2001, three companies within Spanish group Marsans took over airlines Austral and Aerolíneas Argentinas, which had been privatized in 1987 and 1990, respectively (Austral was absorbed into Aerolíneas Argentinas in 2020). Marsans bought them via Spanish company Air Comet, which owned Interinvest, the Argentine holding company that owned the airlines.

In 2008, Marsans filed a lawsuit before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) accusing the country of unlawfully expropriating their investment by passing executive actions and legislation that confiscated their shares. This violated the treaty between the country and the company, they said.

In July 2017, the ICSID ruled in the Marsans group’s favor and ordered Argentina to pay approximately US$321 million plus interest and costs. The rights to collect the debt were bought by hedge fund Titan Consortium.

Argentina appealed that decision on the grounds that a three-year statute of limitations should be applied. Titan Consortium took the case to the Columbia District Court and, in 2024, the tribunal allowed the ICSID to enforce Argentina pay what it owed over the expropriation case and ruled that the applicable period was 12 years.

Based on that ruling, it recognized the ICSID award of over US$390 million as of December 10, 2024, to which subsequent interest would be added. 

The country appealed that ruling last year, insisting on the three-year statute of limitations rather than the 12-year period set in the lower court. However, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Columbia District upheld the original decision and confirmed that the 12-year period applies, meaning the final amount remains at US$390 million.

According to news agency Noticias Argentinas, the Argentine government is analyzing “all available legal tools to reverse or at least mitigate the impact of the ruling.”

*With information from Ámbito